Woman on Wheel of Fortune with veterans, loses on purpose so they can win the money

When you first see the hint that could have solved this puzzle, you would be forgiven for wondering how someone could possibly botch the job. The hint was “what are you doing?” and when Wheel of Fortune contestant Nura Fountano ended up guessing the letter Z, there was a great deal of confusion for all parties involved. Did she realize the gravity of her mistake?

Even Pat Sajak, the show’s unflappable host, could not contain his reaction. He visibly twisted up his face and he asked her to repeat herself. Nura knew exactly what she was doing and she let Pat know that not only did she mean to say Z, but that it was Z as in the same Z that is used in the word Zulu. There was no Z in the puzzle and her behavior only continued to become more bizarre.

On her next turn, she elected not to even venture a guess about which letter was in the puzzle and she let her turn come and go without so much as a peep. As for the turn after that? She guessed the letter Q. By the time her next turn came around, Sajak’s confusion gave way to curiosity, as he wondered what letter Nura would resort to next in her efforts to try and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Nura called out X and did not seem to care that it was a free letter. When she was alerted to this fact, all she could muster as a secondary guess was an “ummm”. A fellow contestant won this round and despite Nura’s puzzling play, she still went home with the largest prize purse of the day. She had won over $13,000 and the two veterans she was competing with had each taken home over $4,000.

Pat was not about to let Nura go home without figuring out why she threw the final round. She was noncommittal about her reasons for doing so and Pat could not press her any further. On the other hand, it was obvious to viewers back home what she had done. She had purposefully sabotaged her own chances in this round, so that the veterans were able to take home some winnings of their own.

What a beautiful story of unselfishness. While the average person would play to win at every turn and attempt to rack up the biggest possible prize package available, Nura was able to see the bigger picture and assist others who are in need of help. Kudos to Nura for this decision and if you would like to watch this moment play out for yourself, click the video below!